The Bet
by anxietygrl
Summary: Derek can seemingly pick up any girl in school, but what about the new girl who just transferred from an all-girls private school?
1. One

Despite his low GPA, Derek felt like a king at school. Maybe it was the leather jacket, or the looks he got from girls. He walked down the hallways and students parted like he was Moses and they were the Red Sea. He'd give a nod to guys from the hockey team, a half smile at any girl he thought was pretty, and would avert his eyes as much as possible when he saw his Spanish teacher. For the most part, he knew everyone and everyone knew him.

Except for her.

A newbie. She stuck out like a sore thumb. She carried all of her textbooks in her arms and balanced her notebook precariously on top. When she got to her locker, she gingerly put them all on the ground in front of her. Pulling out a folded paper from her jeans pocket, she started fiddling with her locker.

Derek noticed her immediately. She was more poised than the other girls at school. Despite her gawky nature, there was a grace about her that made him panic. She carried herself too well to be fooled by him.

But he could still try.

"Let me help you with that," he said, swooping in with a smile. He grabbed the paper from her hands and with a few spins the metal door came open.

"Thanks," she said with a laugh. "I'm kind of new to the whole locker thing."

"Homeschooled?" he asked.

"Private school," she said. "All girls, tiny classes. Super competitive."

"Well, I certainly wouldn't mind going to an all girls school," he said. "I'm Derek, by the way."

"I'm Casey," she said. She extended a small, manicured hand toward him and shook with strength and comfort.

Derek had never shaken hands with a girl when they first met. He wasn't sure how to take the interaction. Before he could crack a joke about it, the bell rang.

"Well, is better get going. Wouldn't want to be late for my first class. It was nice to meet you," Casey said, propping the first of her books on her hip and shutting her locker.

"Yeah, I'll see you around," said Derek.

He watched her walk back down the hallway. Being late was the standard for Derek. Any less than five minutes late was too early to be in class.

Sam put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey D, who's the new girl?"

Sam was Derek's best friend. They were practically inseparable. Whatever girl Derek couldn't pick up, Sam usually could. If neither of them wanted her, they'd hand her off to Raph.

"Her names Casey," Derek replied. "I rescued her from the evils of a stuck locker." He leaned against the lockers and out his hands on his hips, imitating Superman.

"Wow. Well, let me know when I should, you know, take her out," said Sam.

"What do you mean?" asked Derek.

"Come on man, she's not really your type. She's obviously a goody-goody. A nerd. More up my alley," said Sam.

"Oh Sam, you underestimate my charm," said Derek, mockingly. "I could get a nerd, no problem."

"Okay," said Sam. "If you're so sure in your abilities, let's put a little wager on it then. Twenty bucks if you can score her number by the end of the semester."

"I can do it by the end of the month." said Derek, heading down the hallway. "And Sam, make it a hundred bucks!"

"You got a deal!" Sam yelled down the hallway.

As Derek took his seat in the back of geometry, he thought about what he would do with the money he would easily win in this bet. Maybe some concert tickets? Maybe put it towards a new stereo for his room?

His thought process was soon interrupted when a familiar face appeared in the front of the class.

"Sorry I'm late," she said to Mr. Moriarty. "I'm Casey, I'm new."

"Miss McDonald?" Mr. Moriarty asked. "Take a seat wherever you can find one."

"Thanks," said Casey, but before she could find her seat she tripped over the projectors extension cord and managed to bring it down with her as she sailed into the carpet.

Oh yeah, Derek thought. Easy money.


	2. Two

**Author's Note: Hey guys! Thank you for the awesome response to the first chapter of this story! Just wanted to let you know that this story will be updating by 8 o'clock every Wednesday. Here's the new chapter, thank you!**

_Two:_

Casey wanted to make a stunning first impression at her new school. She wanted to wow her teachers with her intelligence, and she wanted the transition from her private school to be as seamless as possible.

As they say, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Her new school tripled the size of her former all-girls school. None of the kids here walked with order, they all crowded the hallways and clotted the lunch room. Sitting on tables, playing loud music, and shouting to their friends; all were normal behaviors here. Casey felt like Jane Goodall observing the chimpanzees. Except nature was never quite her thing.

She found a spot alone. A table by the back wall where she could collect her thoughts and avoid the dirty looks some of the girls in her new class were giving her. This would also give her a great chance to start reading the book they were assigned in her Advanced English Literature class. It was Pride and Prejudice. Casey had previously read a few works by Jane Austen, (even though at sixteen her mom Nora deemed them slightly too 'mature' for her) but she hadn't enjoyed them the way she expected to enjoy this one.

Before she was even a chapter in, Derek sat down.

"Oh, hi," she said while slipping her bookmark into the spine of her novel to save her place.

"We meet again," he said. "So, I see you picked the table farthest from any chance at social interaction. I'm guessing you're an only child?"

"Was and only child," Casey said. "My younger sister, Lizzie, is four years younger than me.

"Yeah, I have two younger siblings myself. Sometimes it's like being the general of a small army and sometimes it's like living with monkeys," Derek said.

"I can see what you mean," Casey said with a laugh, motioning to the two boys over Derek's shoulder who were milliseconds away from getting into a fistfight.

That caught Derek's attention pretty easily. "Hey Josh!" he shouted. "Aim for the stomach!" He turned back to Casey. "Gabe goes down easy when you throw off his center of gravity."

"Funny," Casey said, as her eyes started to glaze over. She reached for her book.

"Hey, I gotta get a closer look at this. I'll see you around," said Derek as he headed towards the ongoing fight.

Casey returned to Lizzie and Jane, who in this chapter had just received news of Mr. Bingley's arrival. She had always been fascinated by this era of history. All the beautiful dresses and formal events, and guys to date who didn't act like wildlife. She looked up from her book so see Derek now standing behind Josh, like he was Josh's boxing coach. The few teachers in the cafeteria didn't even seem to notice what was happening. They were all too invested in their own conversations to care.

When did her life get so disorderly? How did she go from being the top of her class, aiming towards valedictorian, with a ton of friends and a steady home life, to here? Two hours away from her old house, in a school that seemed more like a jungle, with divorced parents who could barely speak to each other on the phone?

That's when Sam sat down.


	3. Three

Casey irritatedly put her book down, again, to make conversation with another guy who she was sure would get up as soon as another fight broke out.

"Hey," he said. "You're Casey MacDonald, right? I think we're in the same Global History class."

"Yeah, third period? Mrs…Gerber?" Casey said. "I'm really bad with names."

"Well, Mrs. Gerber isn't really great with annunciation," he said. "I'm Sam, by the way."

He outstretched a hand to her in a grasp that was firm without being businesslike. Just old fashioned manners, which made Casey's stomach flip uncharacteristically.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

From the other side of the lunch room came a round of applause and cheers. Casey looked to find Derek in the middle of the fight he was once rallying, pulling the two boys off of each other.

Playing the hero, stopping the commotion as soon as the vice principal noticed the fight.

Sam noticed her glance. "If Derek manages to talk himself out of a detention again I'll be seriously impressed," he said.

"Is he always like that?" Casey asked.

"Derek? Yes. Big time. He's my best friend. He's just sort of...a magnet for trouble. Drives his dad insane," Sam said. "His dad told him that if he gets a suspension this semester he's going to force Derek off of the hockey team. Which sucks cause we really need him."

"Oh, you guys play hockey? I've actually never gotten into it," Casey said.

"Casey," Sam said, feigning disgust. "You are a Canadian. What could be more important than our national pastime of hockey?"

Casey laughed. "Well," she sad. "I was always busy with dance, and I've never really been into sports all that much."

"Dance is a sport though," said Sam. "My mom danced ballet when she was younger and she could do some pretty impressive stuff. Plus, all of her ballet shoes are wrecked. She used to go through a pair a month."

"I can believe that," Casey said. "During recital season I'm pretty sure my town would go through a toe shoe shortage just because of my dance company."

"So, are you joining a new company here?" he said. "Or are you just commuting?"

"Oh, I actually had to quit," said Casey. "My uh, my parents divorce kind of put me through a lot last year. It was really hard to balance my family stuff with school and ballet, and I had to be there for my family."

"I can understand that," Sam said.

He put a hand on top of hers, comfortably firm like his handshake. Followed by reassuring eye contact. Casey's stomach flipped back over. The bell rang, and with it the rest of the students in the cafeteria seemed to scatter. Like dandelion seeds out onto a field.

Except for one student. Who hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Casey and Sam since he saw them talking.

Derek watched the two of them gather their things, and watched Sam walk Casey out into the hallway.

When the bet was first proposed, Derek assumes it would be a great way to get more of Sam's money. Now, though, it seemed to be a gauntlet thrown in the sand. A challenge. Not just a game to win, but something to earn.

A very worthwhile earning.


End file.
